Star Wars Art: Ralph McQuarrie by George Lucas

Star Wars Art: Ralph McQuarrie Reviews

• 
  Danielle

  Me: I am not going to buy any as I have spent too much money in the last month.
  
  Finds this book
  
  Me: Well I know what I am going to be saving up for now, sorry clothing you are not important.
• 
  Don Witzel

  Just amazing collection of Ralph McQuarrie Star Wars concept, art. It is a must buy for his art fans. Star Wars fans you will be amazed by the concepts that came to life, and the ones that did not. Also, the notes and process with Lucas. The quality of the Hardcover set is amazing. 22LBS. The binding and slip cover are top notch. The only issue is the price point witch is $250.00 retail. I found my copy $90.00 less than retail. So you might want to shop around. If your a diehard fan of his work. Then the price point is not a factor,because it has everything...
• 
  Книжни Криле

  Стартира нашата видео поредица Star Wars Fan HoloCast! Решихме в първи епизод да ви представим първия том на книгата Star Wars Art: Ralph McQuarrie. Надяваме се, че ще ви бъде интересно! Приятно гледане! -
  http://starwarsbg.com/news/%D0%BF%D1%...
• 
  Kirk

  Brace your puny forearm muscles for the wonder that is Star Wars Art: Ralph McQuarrie, two weighty tomes which collect every scrap of McQuarrie art that its creators could find, including that which was found by dumpster divers. Thoughtfully and carefully organized chronologically, the sketches and paintings are presented along with the occasional "finished product" still from the film to show what his efforts led to. And boy, the crewmembers quoted in this book are quick to acknowledge that, without McQuarrie's imagination and artwork, they and others responsible for creating the visuals of the Star Wars films would have been a bit lost on Lucas' skimpy directions. Over and over, we are told that the designers and crew had McQuarrie's art up on the wall and how grateful they were to have such a reference tool. Even on Return of the Jedi, when McQuarrie was losing steam on designing for Star Wars and didn't produce as much, those designers who took over his role noted that they were drawing in the McQuarrie style.
  
  I was interested to learn that McQuarrie's experiences as a soldier and as a technical artist for Boeing influenced his style. The latter made him focus on imbuing a practicality to his details. A lever isn't there for effect; it's there because it's doing something. The anecdotes and interviews with McQuarrie and his crewmembers are also interesting: Boba Fett as an all-white "supertrooper"? The Death Star's lights created by poking a matte painting over and over with an Xacto knife and backlighting it? Yes, these are the sorts of things which give me quite a thrill to read.
  
  One of the most humorous sections to me was, predictably, the Star Wars Holiday Special, in which McQuarrie's earnest drawings of Kashyyyk were perverted by greedheads into an abomination few of us have had the mettle to finish. It's telling that those quoted in this section sound like they're testifying before Congress and attempting to distance themselves from it as much as possible. Producer Gary Kurtz: "None of us was involved in any kind of day-to-day basis. We had no influence over the special other than saying it should be a Wookiee setting, and we provided the actors and some of the staff. Other than that, they just did what they wanted." Initial director David Acomba: "I never saw it. I shot some stuff, but we never got into the Wookiees. I thought, 'This isn't working out.'" Designer Joe Johnston: "I remember Ralph and I trading some sketches, but we were both working on Empire, too, which I gave a much higher priority to, and I got the sense that Ralph did as well. My work on the special only spanned a couple of weeks." The prosecution rests. A further testament to the tight chronological organization of the book is that this section on the Holiday Special comes smack dab in the middle of the drawings for Empire, which perhaps reinforces the above defense from Johnston that the crew were preoccupied with the sequel and didn't devote as much time as they could or should have to the Special.
  
  I'll admit, I was salivating over this book when it came in at the library, expecting more of the deliciousness hinted at in
  The Illustrated Star Wars Universe (McQuarrie's drawings paired with Kevin J. Anderson's writing). While there's plenty in Star Wars Art to look at, the pictures felt a bit lonely without Anderson's storytelling. I'm certainly not here to dissuade you from perusing or even purchasing the collection. It's a great way to appreciate the man responsible for so much of what I love about the Star Wars universe. As a frequent re-read, however, it doesn't meet my criteria.
• 
  Tim

  This book doesn't really need a review, does it? It's huge, heavy and it's a must for fans of McQuarrie's artwork. Don't think you'll just be looking at artwork for this book also has a lot of text to accompany all of Ralph's work. His sketches, matte paintings, production paintings, posters, covers, holiday cards ... are all present in this volume. A bit more expensive, but you'll understand when you see it.
• 
  Karen

  #BestCoffeeTableBooks #BestGiftableCoffeeTableBooks
  
  If you got them a Darth Vader toaster last year: This two-volume boxed set is an homage to Ralph McQuarrie, the artist who worked closely with George Lucas to create Star Wars’ visual aesthetic.
• 
  Niko Hyppönen

  Olipas tämä intensiivinen lukukokemus. Tämän kirjan kanssa pitää tosissaan puhua kokemuksesta. Ensinnäkin lukeminen on mahdollista vain tukevalla pöydällä, koska kaksiosainen kirja painaa yhteensä yli kymmenen kiloa!
  
  Mahdottoman isot sivut pakottavat myös katsomaan yksityiskohtia aivan uudella tavalla. Kirjan lukeminen tuntui siltä, kun olisi matkannut taidegalleriaan, jossa näytetään Star Warsin syntyyn vaikuttaneita teoksia.
  
  Pelkästä taiteesta antaisin viisi tähteä, koska Ralph oli kiistatta yksiä maailman parhaista konseptitaiteilijoista. Etenkin isot maalaukset ovat hengästyttävän hienoja. Uskomattomia perspektiivejä, hienoja valaistuksia ja sellaista elämän tuntua, jota ei yleensä näe taiteessa. Lisäksi Ralph on vastannut monien ajattomien hahmojen ja paikkojen suunnittelusta.
  
  Tekstin osalta taas annan vain kolme tähteä. Vaikka kirja on 800 sivua pitkä, tuntui siltä, että en päässyt kunnolla tutustumaan Ralphin ajatusmaailmaan taiteen takana.
  
  Kaiken kaikkiaan suosittelen kyllä tätä kirjaa jokaiselle Star Wars -fanille. Toki hinta on kova, mutta rahoille saa paljon vastinetta.
• 
  Milan Pohl

  Naprosto úchvatná publikace obsahující všechny kresby a malby, které Ralph McQuarrie vytvořil pro Star Wars. Nechybí ani zasvěcené průvodní texty a vzpomínky McQuarrieho spolupracovníků. Do vlaku si ji nevezmete, váží celých 10 kg, ale o to láskyplněji budete jejími skvostnými stranami listovat v bezpečí domova. Kdyby se na Goodreads neudělovaly hvězdičky, ale procenta, dal bych bez váhání čistou stovku.
• 
  Mel

  I bought this as a present for Bill and we went through it together. I had a few of the making of books as a child and loved all the concept art. These books have EVERYTHING. They are beautiful and amazing. They are my favourite kind of art as you can spend hours staring at the pictures and imgaining all sorts of stories for what is going on with the people and places. Definitely worth it for Star Wars fans, especially if you can find it on sale like I did.
• 
  Mark Hartman

  Massive in size and weight the awesome artwork of Ralph McQuarrie. Two large hardback books that come in a large slipbox. There are so many great pieces of art this is a must have for every Star Wars fan that can afford it. The price is as massive as the books which is understandable considering the size and weight.
• 
  Petr Čapek

  
  http://www.schefikuvblog.eu/star-wars...
• 
  Nicholas

  The art was fantastic.
• 
  Jessi

  Absolutely gorgeous and fascinating. I'm so thankful I was able to get this one on interlibrary loan. I'd love to own it but I don't think I could ever afford a copy!
• 
  Steven

  Two huge volumes of JUST RMQ art!
  These books are beautiful.
• 
  Siobhan can read good

  What an amazing, comprehensive book set. Well worth the price. It's always great to see the creative process that goes into such large scale productions, and this book does a great job of showing progressive sketches and concepts, even those that seemed ridiculous - and thankfully never made it into the final film. This book will also give you a renewed appreciation for traditional art mediums, since most concept art I see currently is done via computers and tablets.